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Choirs' 'Stratosphere' program to be offered April 25 and April 26

Choirs' 'Stratosphere' program to be offered April 25 and April 26

The Penn State Behrend Concert Choir and Chamber Singers will give two performances of “Stratosphere,” their year-end concert program.

The first performance will be at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel on the Penn State Behrend campus. The next day, Sunday, April 26, the choirs will perform at 4 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul Episcopal, 134 W. 7th St., Erie. General admission tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the main desk in Penn State Behrend’s Reed Union Building, or by phone at (814) 898-6242.

“We’re calling this concert ‘Stratosphere’ in recognition of the unusual amount of high singing and large number of soloists—17— featured in the repertoire,” explains D. Jason Bishop, director of choral activities and lecturer in music at Penn State Behrend. “The program includes Gregorio Allegri’s hypnotic Renaissance motet ‘Miserere Mei, Deus,’ along with works by Eric Whitacre, Kinley Lange and Samuel Barber that have a transportive effect, allowing the listener to zone out, or experience meditation, through the invitation of the music.”

“Stratosphere” also includes opera choruses, African-American spirituals, and “Si Tú Sueñas,” a Latin salsa piece by contemporary composer Francisco Núñez that will be accompanied by musicians from the Penn State Behrend Jazz Ensemble.

For additional information about the performances, phone (814) 898-6078.